Waters works for Par, FtvS
Spy, sci-fi properties on scribe's slate
Oct 11, 2007
Scribe Daniel Waters has been tapped to adapt Lindsay Moran's memoir "Blowing My Cover: My Life as a CIA Spy" for Paramount Vantage.
Additionally, he is developing his first TV project, "Earthlings," for Sci Fi Channel, with producers Aaron Craig Geller, Darryl Porter and Fox Television Studios.
Meanwhile, Geller and Porter's newly formed production company, PorterGeller Entertainment, has signed a first-look development deal with FtvS to develop scripted programming.
"Blowing My Cover" tells the story of Moran, who, a few years out of Harvard and fresh from a Fulbright scholarship in Bulgaria, decided to follow her childhood dream of becoming a spy. But far from being a female James Bond, Moran discovered that the life was more isolating than anything else, with her not able to tell even her closest confidants or boyfriends what she did for a living.
Karen Tenkhoff ("The Motorcycle Diaries") is producing. Amy Israel and Jeff Steer are overseeing at Vantage.
"Earthlings," described as a darker and subversive successor to such shows as "Mork & Mindy" or "3rd Rock From the Sun," follows three aliens on Earth who try to save the planet but are continually vexed by humankind's irrational behavior, which seems to find ways to defeat their good intentions.The project is being developed as a 90-minute pilot. Waters is writing the script and will executive produce with Geller, who acted in the same capacity on Waters' comedic drama "Sex and Death 101." Porter is co-executive producer.
Mark Stern, executive vp original programming at Sci Fi, said the project would be a good companion to the network's original series "Eureka," saying both have a similar tongue-in-cheek tone.
"We wanted to work with Dan Waters for a long time; he has a great sense of humor," Stern said. "('Earthlings') is a wonderful fish-out-of-water story that really gives us a great opportunity to explore our world through aliens' eyes."
As for PorterGeller's first-look deal at FtvS, executive vp scripted programming David Madden praised the duo.
"We sat down with Aaron and Darryl, heard the ideas they were working on and decided this would be a great fit," Madden said. "They're pursuing talented writers with atypical genre ideas and a lot of edge. ... They also have very good vocabularies and dress nicely," he quipped.
This actually marks the second time Madden is working with Geller, who noted that the pair worked together 15 years ago when he was a production assistant on a movie that Madden was producing.
Porter added that he and Geller are looking forward to working with FtvS.
"It's exactly the kind of studio relationship PorterGeller was looking for," he said. Waters is best known for penning the '80s cult classic "Heathers," as well as "Batman Returns." His "Sex and Death 101," which he wrote and directed, reunited him with "Heathers" star Winona Ryder and netted him a best director award at the Seattle International Film Festival.
He is repped by WMA and Thompson Management. Geller most recently was executive vp and head of production for Cary Brokaw and Avenue Pictures ("Angels in America"), with whom Fox TV Studios also has an overall deal.
Porter spent the past decade as a manager and producer of media brands and intellectual properties for film, TV, music and digital entertainment and before that was co-founder and partner of Underworld Entertainment with the Hughes brothers. PorterGeller is repped by attorneys Jake Bloom and Tom Collier.
Additionally, he is developing his first TV project, "Earthlings," for Sci Fi Channel, with producers Aaron Craig Geller, Darryl Porter and Fox Television Studios.
Meanwhile, Geller and Porter's newly formed production company, PorterGeller Entertainment, has signed a first-look development deal with FtvS to develop scripted programming.
"Blowing My Cover" tells the story of Moran, who, a few years out of Harvard and fresh from a Fulbright scholarship in Bulgaria, decided to follow her childhood dream of becoming a spy. But far from being a female James Bond, Moran discovered that the life was more isolating than anything else, with her not able to tell even her closest confidants or boyfriends what she did for a living.
Karen Tenkhoff ("The Motorcycle Diaries") is producing. Amy Israel and Jeff Steer are overseeing at Vantage.
"Earthlings," described as a darker and subversive successor to such shows as "Mork & Mindy" or "3rd Rock From the Sun," follows three aliens on Earth who try to save the planet but are continually vexed by humankind's irrational behavior, which seems to find ways to defeat their good intentions.The project is being developed as a 90-minute pilot. Waters is writing the script and will executive produce with Geller, who acted in the same capacity on Waters' comedic drama "Sex and Death 101." Porter is co-executive producer.
Mark Stern, executive vp original programming at Sci Fi, said the project would be a good companion to the network's original series "Eureka," saying both have a similar tongue-in-cheek tone.
"We wanted to work with Dan Waters for a long time; he has a great sense of humor," Stern said. "('Earthlings') is a wonderful fish-out-of-water story that really gives us a great opportunity to explore our world through aliens' eyes."
As for PorterGeller's first-look deal at FtvS, executive vp scripted programming David Madden praised the duo.
"We sat down with Aaron and Darryl, heard the ideas they were working on and decided this would be a great fit," Madden said. "They're pursuing talented writers with atypical genre ideas and a lot of edge. ... They also have very good vocabularies and dress nicely," he quipped.
This actually marks the second time Madden is working with Geller, who noted that the pair worked together 15 years ago when he was a production assistant on a movie that Madden was producing.
Porter added that he and Geller are looking forward to working with FtvS.
"It's exactly the kind of studio relationship PorterGeller was looking for," he said. Waters is best known for penning the '80s cult classic "Heathers," as well as "Batman Returns." His "Sex and Death 101," which he wrote and directed, reunited him with "Heathers" star Winona Ryder and netted him a best director award at the Seattle International Film Festival.
He is repped by WMA and Thompson Management. Geller most recently was executive vp and head of production for Cary Brokaw and Avenue Pictures ("Angels in America"), with whom Fox TV Studios also has an overall deal.
Porter spent the past decade as a manager and producer of media brands and intellectual properties for film, TV, music and digital entertainment and before that was co-founder and partner of Underworld Entertainment with the Hughes brothers. PorterGeller is repped by attorneys Jake Bloom and Tom Collier.
